Perry looks to put village hall’s second floor back into use after 30-year gap – The Daily News Online

PERRY Step upstairs at Perry Village Hall and its a bit of a time capsule.

Two pinball machines gather dust, along with an old Space Invaders video game which no longer seems to work. An empty Coca-Cola machine the kind with a built-in bottle opener offers drinks for 35 cents apiece.

The space was last used regularly in the mid-80s or early 90s said Mayor Rick Hauser on Saturday. Then handicapped accessibility other issues curtailed its use dramatically.

Its now mostly used for storing cardboard boxes filled with paperwork.

Its kind of sad actually, Hauser said. Its become our storage space ... Whatever era that Space Invaders was out, this was like a community center, before the law came down on the fact that you cant formally use this as an assembly-occupancy, because it didnt have accessibility or a second means of egress. Its been kind of useless, other than just for storage

A $300,000 state Regional Economic Development Council initiative will help bring the area, which encompasses about 3,000 square feet, back into use. The funding was announced shortly before Christmas.

Although large and spacious, with several rooms, the village halls upstairs is accessible only by climbing a single set of stairs which obviously doesnt meet modern needs or codes.

The state grant funding will help install an elevator and second set of stairs.

Im a fundamental believer in the full employment of all of the physical space we have in Perry, Hauser said. To make Main Street viable, you have to make use of the upper floors, and thats one of the things that weve seen in Perry in the past 15 years.

Its a re-inhabitation of our upper floors for mixed use for residential, theres been 30 new or renovated units downtown, he continued. For artists and professional office space, weve added more than 100 workers on Main Street since 2005.

That concept also applies to the village hall, he said. About 50 percent of its space is under-used and making the upper floor viable would allow an open area capable of housing court, public meetings, performances, community events, or any number of uses.

If youve been to our village boardroom, its fine for regular meetings but it cant accommodate comfortably more than about 10 guests, Hauser said. So when we have meetings or public hearings, we often have to go to another location. This would be a way to keep everything at the village hall. Step one is getting handicapped access and a second means of egress to this space so we can use it again for assembly purposes.

The grant funding provides a two-year window of opportunity, Hauser said. The elevator and stairs would need to be installed by that point.

In the meantime, hed like to develop renovation plans for the remainder of the upper floor, and seek funding to help get the rest of it underway.

Its early in the process and a total cost estimate wasnt available.

It opens up opportunities the village hasnt had, Hauser said. Space of this scale in the downtown for public or municipal use. And just generally to make these buildings viable, they need periodic, generational-scale reinvestment ... As buildings pass the 100-year mark they need to be updated. We need to be utilizing the whole building so we can efficiently condition it and make use of our resources.

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Perry looks to put village hall's second floor back into use after 30-year gap - The Daily News Online